Two Nations Divided by a Common Language: Lessons Learned as a Churchill Scholar in Cambridge

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Kevin Y. Chen(1)

(1)Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, UK

Abstract

In January 2018, Kevin Chen was awarded a Churchill Scholarship. When the Churchill Foundation called, he thought they called the wrong Kevin. And so began Kevin’s journey to England. This case study reports his findings and lessons learned during his time in the land of fish and chips.

Introduction

Many smart and brilliant Penn students have traveled from the US to the UK in search of knowledge, wisdom, and cheap trips around Europe. Many of them were funded by rich foundations. However, the mechanisms through which those students grow and develop in a foreign country remain poorly understood. This study presents the developmental biology of a curious specimen, Kevin Chen, as he adapts to a new environment.

Materials and Methods

The website, Student Universe, was used to obtain absurdly cheap plane tickets to London from California.

An innovative tool called the iPhone 5 was used to document the subject’s journey. 

Results

Development of Research Independence

Kevin struggled a bit in his new research environment during his first few months in Cambridge. The new lab Kevin joined was much bigger (30+ members) than his lab in undergrad. Kevin felt lost for a few weeks. However, his supervisor was very supportive and helpful whenever he approached him. Within a month or two, Kevin figured out the hypotheses he wanted to test, and started throwing out ideas to the other grad students and postdocs in the office. Because he got along well with his lab mates, who come from different places in Europe, Asia, and Britain (international people outnumber British people in the lab), many of them helped him filter out the dumb ideas and troubleshoot the promising ones. Kevin is now running his own experiments, working independently, and having fun testing his crazy ideas. Most of them fail, but he enjoys the freedom he has in the lab. No one really tells him what to do, which is both scary and exciting, but he loves that he can easily get advice when he needs it. Kevin’s experience doing single molecule imaging at Penn also helped him move faster in his current lab, which is also a biophysical optics lab. Kevin looks forward to taking his project from start to finish and has grown significantly as a researcher during his short 6 months in Cambridge. As a side note, Kevin loves talking with his lab mates about random things, like the ethics of meat consumption, British rappers, and dating advice.

Kevin presented at a Gordon Research Conference in January in Ventura, California. He did not expect such a great opportunity to come so early, but his research moved faster than expected. He enjoyed watching dolphins and seals swim along the boat when he went whale watching in Ventura.

With support from Churchill College, Kevin is also learning how to do some scientific illustration on the side with his extra time. He still sucks at drawing, but luckily, the programs make it easier.

Cultural Exchange with Britain and Europe 

First and foremost, it is an exciting time for Kevin to be in Britain. Brexit really spices things up. Usually Britain is so boringly stable. Kevin enjoys the Brexit banter in the lab and videos of Theresa May dancing. Kevin is also both sad and grateful to miss out on all the exciting current US politics. Kevin also discovered that British people don’t really care about royalty. He now thinks Americans have a weird fetish for British royal life.

Kevin has found that Britain is more rational and reasonable than the US in multiple respects. There are no exorbitant portion sizes in restaurants, and roundabouts are more efficient than stoplights. Everyone drives manual, which is impressive and apparently more fuel efficient. However, people drive on the left (wrong) side of the road, and all the grocery stores close at 5 pm on Sundays, which Kevin finds terribly inconvenient. Kevin also tried to find tofu in the grocery store, and the person at the till said, “What’s that”? In addition, Kevin found that people take their lunch, tea, and pub breaks seriously in the UK. In fact, a lot of science happens over tea and pub breaks. Rarely does someone eat lunch in front of their computer like people do in the US.

Food in England mostly consists of root veggies and overcooked meat. And overly sweet port. But Kevin went to a carvery with some friends after a hike at Peak District (Figure 2), and Kevin loved it. Kevin can get Thanksgiving dinner every day of the year in Britain. Kevin also found that British people love curry and frozen pizzas. Thankfully, Kevin finds time to cook properly seasoned food with friends and lab mates and made Chinese hotpot for his friends during winter (Figure 3).

Kevin has participated in university societies, including the Cambridge University lion dance troupe (Figure 4) and STIMULUS (science education volunteering). Kevin is choreographing the lion dance routine for the St. John’s May Ball, which is Cambridge’s version of Spring Fling. St. John’s is one of the three exorbitantly rich colleges in Cambridge.

Kevin also went on great trips in Europe because plane tickets within Europe are cheaper than meals. He visited the Churchill War Rooms in London as part of a private tour with the Churchill Scholarship, went to Edinburgh (weirdly pronounced Edinborough) to see a friend, and also visited Munich, Prague, Paris, and London. In London, he discovered and took his parents to a Philadelphia themed bar (Figure 5). His parents were not amused because they wanted to go shopping instead.

Kevin’s only major gripe about Cambridge is that the buildings, roads, and traditions are ancient. Kevin got in trouble for walking on the lawn. The roads can barely fit a car, let alone a bunch of undergraduates on bikes all trying to get to 9 am lecture. As Venki Ramakrishnan said in his book, Gene Machine: The Race to Discover the Secrets of the Ribosome, Cambridge has “rigid bureaucratic rules administered with an earnest smugness, queues for almost anything, … [and] locals feeling that ‘we’ve always done it that way’ [is] a perfectly reasonable response when questioned about some completely silly practice” (Ramakrishan, 2018).

A few miscellaneous observations: gyms are not really a thing in the UK, but people are very outdoorsy and love running; Kevin still doesn’t understand British spelling, i.e. colour vs color; and waking up at 6 am to go rowing in the rain was not for Kevin.

Personal and Social Growth as a Young Adult

Kevin’s post-graduation transition has been a mix of highs and lows. On one hand, Kevin really misses his solid friend groups from Penn (shoutout to New College House and Penn Lions). Coming from Philly, Kevin had to adjust to the small Cambridge town feel. On the other hand, Kevin has developed some deep friendships through his lab and the Churchill Middle Common Room (a weird British name for the graduate student organization).

Kevin has also learned to slow down and enjoy life, especially since everyone gets burnt out from work at some point. Kevin now prioritizes health, exercise, Skyping friends, and getting out of Cambridge. He is more productive that way. Board game nights (Figure 7) and day trips to places like York help him relax when research gets all-consuming.

Kevin is still trying to figure out his life goals post-graduation. His Master’s year has been a weird mix between still being a student and transitioning to adulthood. He is thinking and working independently in a lab, but still learning every day from his mentors. He is batch cooking for himself on the weekends, but still doesn’t know how to properly dice an onion. He is forming mature social relationships and watching his friends get married, but still enjoys a bit of clubbing. Basically, Kevin is growing a lot from his Churchill year. At Penn, classes, clubs, and applications constantly kept Kevin busy. There was never a spare second. Now that Kevin has time to focus on the big picture, he is thinking more critically about what he actually enjoys. Academia is no longer the only option. Kevin is incredibly grateful for the time he has to sit in parks, read books about the meaning of life, and think about things before he starts grad school in the States.

Acknowledgements

Kevin gratefully acknowledges Dr. Wallace Genser, Dr. Ann Vernon-Grey, Dr. Cam Grey, and Lauren Orr for their good humor and support in applying for the Churchill Scholarship.

References

Ramakrishnan, V. (2018). Gene machine. Basic Books.

Kevin Chen (C'18) is currently an MPhil student in chemistry at the University of Cambridge, funded by the Churchill scholarship. He is researching how immune cells communicate and activate in response to germs and viruses. In August 2019, he will start graduate school at UCSF. 

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